Veil of Possibilities or meeting the Blacks
by diluvina black
Summary: AU.After falling through the Veil Sirius is traveling through different universes trying to find his way home. He falls into a universe where he's married, raising Harry and still part of the very dark Black family eventhought he was sorted into Griffindor and Moony's best friend. After all blood is thicker than water.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything, neither am I making any money off this. I am just writing for my own enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of others. What's really all mine are any mistakes you might find within the text, if you want them you'll have to sue me (**LoL**)

**N/A:** For my description of the Black family I would like to point the reader towards a brilliant fiction "growing up Black" from Elvendork Nigellus, the fiction is not yet completed (is a WIP) but I really liked his/her/its work on the Blacks and they inspired me to go ahead with this Black family portrait. If you haven't read it, go and do it, it's more than worth your time.

The idea for this Veil of Possibilities is taken from an old homepage, now regretfully disappeared, which started after Sirius went through the Veil and used to have stories about the different realities Sirius found during his travelling from one Veil to the next. It's sad how much good Harry Potter fan fiction has been lost when some homepages closed (and people say nothing gets deleted once it's been shown in Internet, goes to show what they know about it).

I have been reading fan fiction since the third Harry Potter book was published, a couple of days now ;-) but this is my first fiction and it's unbetaed, therefore any mistakes are all mine. I welcome all kind of comments and critic as I'd like to know why you find something good or bad, fun or boring and there is always room for improvement but flames and bigoted comments will be ignored and deleted.

Guys this is a playground for all of us to play in, if you don't like the group playing with this "toy" look for a different one. That's the beauty of fan fiction net there are hundreds of thousands of different stories.

**Summary: **What if the Veil in the Chamber was wrongly named? The Veil not being the Veil of Death, but the Veil of Possibilities. Based on the theory of a multiverse, the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes, Sirius travels to different universes where he finds different realities whilst trying to find his way back home. In this universe Sirius finds a reality where he did not go to Azkaban, is married with kids, happily raising Harry and part of the Black family! AU

**Facts for this story:**The time line of the fiction is OOTP for Veil Sirius and 1986 for the parallel universe. The characters will be known as Padfoot (veil travelling Sirius) and Sirius (AU Sirius)

The usual live expectancy for magical folk in my universe being around 150 years old. The members of the Black family already dead before 1986 will be also dead in this fiction, but those alive on 1986 will remain alive for their natural live span in my universe, that means their date of birth will be according to canon but they will not die on the year they do in canon. I am using the black family three from the HP-Lexicon.

The story takes place in summer 1988 , AU Sirius is 29 years old and AU Harry 8 years old. Travelling Sirius, a.k.a. canon Sirius a.k.a. Padfoot , is canon old at 37 years.

"_And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place._"

-Description of Sirius's death by falling through the veil.-

Padfoot was still on his hiding place and trying to make sense of everything. The two young kids,Teddy, with his turquoise hair and Alphard, obviously, one of his sons. He was a father! The father of a happy kid! It was a very scary and humbling experience. He also relished this younger and so obviously happy Harry.

This non-dilapidated Grimmauld Place. At the same time he was extremely curious to know how all these pieces fitted into the puzzle. One puzzle where Padfoot, or better said the Sirius of this universe was warding Grimmauld Place with old family blood wards and even more strange closely working together with the rest of the Black family. A very scary thought which did not go together with a happy place or family live.

It was obvious for Padfoot that this one was not his own universe but at the same time it was a good one, one where he either did not went into Azkaban or got released at an earlier date. A universe where he and Harry seemed to be happy and… there had been so few of those since he felt thought the blasted Veil.

It had been a while, since Padfoot went through the Veil, although he wouldn't be able to say if it had been a week, a month or a year he still knew that he had been traipsing along the different realities for some time now. As popular opinion goes practice makes perfect and when this story takes place Padfoot was not perfect but close to it having had already some practice in this 'multiverse jumping-thingy' he was doing.

He had already had quite some practice about coming into a new universe, finding out whether it was the right one or not and moving forward to the next one always with the aim of trying to find his way back home without wasting too much time. After all there were those universes, dark and with a sense of despair, where he really did not feel like lingering for long but just felt like going away as soon as possible.

His modus operandi had been refined by practice and thankfully there were some constants within the madness. The only way to come into a new universe was through the veil. The only way to move forwards to the next one was also through the same veil. Veils seemed to be quite unimaginative, or probably the ministry wizards studying them were, and had a tendency to be found within the Department of Mysteries of the local Ministry of Magic. Sirius had also noticed that the level of intelligence of the people did not improve with a new reality, an idiot in a universe had all the cards in the hand to be a dolt in the next one.

Another constant was that Sirius was and remained a Black and the safest place for any Black in any universe was the ancestral home of the Black family at 12th Grimmauld Place in London.

(and at this point he would tell you that life tends to be a bitch with a sick sense of humor if he knew that you are reading this story).

It took him a while to be able to head towards the place without thinking about his outburst when he was young and naïve (some would say stupid) and clearly claimed at the top of his lungs , that "it would be a cold day in hell before he put a foot in the place again". Padfoot was sure that the Prince of Darkness was a very proficient ice skater by now.

Those constants were the reason why he mainly started all his "visits" in the same fashion: he came out of the veil, (nowadays more dignified than at first, when he kind of stumbled out of the dratted thing), transformed into Padfoot and tried to slip out of the Ministry as inconspicuously as possible. Once on the street he would happily head towards 12th Grimmauld Place.

This time luck seemed to be on his side, he came out of the Veil in the middle of the night finding a practically empty Ministry. Leaving without being noticed was actually a piece of cake and he even was able to search for a washroom and groom himself a bit before leaving.

Having to tramp around trying to find his way back home was no reason for him to actually look like a tramp. Padfoot had also learnt firsthand how practical it was to come into an empty Ministry. The employees had all kind of useful things on their workplaces, from all kind of sweets and biscuits to toiletries.

Well they also had all kind of non-useful ones, but he did not see the point of travelling around with an array of sadly looking potted ferns, ugly teddy bears and even uglier looking pictures of kids, spouses and/or other family members.

Sometimes if he was careful and happen to came into the place not only during the night but also during the weekend, he even had the possibility of showering and changing at the aurors floor. He even had had the possibility to get a complete change of clothes now and again, after all most aurors had a personal spin with all sorts of necessities in it. He wasn't sure but he thought that his actual outfit had belonged to Kingsley in a previously visited reality.

His marauder side would have greatly enjoyed to know that there were several on-going feuds in several departments of several different universes about things that had mysteriously disappeared with people going as far as to stop talking to each other over such outrageous "thieving" of their personal items.

After grooming he moved towards one of the kitchenettes, raided the fridge – he had learnt the hard way that food other than fruit did not have a tendency to grow on trees and talking about trees, London was not well known for his fruit-bearing trees really-, took a cup of coffee, munched on a couple of sandwiches and some Jaffa Cakes he was lucky to find in one of the cabinets and started his way towards Grimmauld Place.

In his universe 12 Grimmauld Place was a grim old place. The house was unplottable and situated in the middle of a very rundown muggle neighbourhood. The house and the muggle square appeared to be situated in completely different worlds and mutually ignored the presence of each other.

In this universe Sirius was able to feel some wards tickling his magic even before he was able to see or come into the actual square where Grimmauld Place was situated. He started to get a very bad feeling when he noticed that those were most definitive Black Family blood wards with a small flavor of his father and a lot of "flavor" from both his grandfathers (Arcturus and Pollux), his "_dear" _aunt Cassiopea and even a pinch of him and Regulus through into the mix, there were other Blacks which he would have been able to "feel" if he'd tried hard enough, knowing that the wards in his old house in his own universe were practically as old as the family itself, but the above mentioned combination of family members was enough to make his skin crawl.

A Sirius warding together with the rest of the family was too close to a "true heir of the noble and most ancient house of Black" for comfort. Our Sirius was extremely wary about this and started praying that no one in this universe would happen to be familiar with Padfoot.

-End of chapter one-


	2. Chapter 2

Being a Black, or better said being Sirius Black a.k.a. Padfoot , he had no problems to get into this Grimmauld place. The Sirius of this reality had helped warding the place and therefore the wards recognized Padfoot as being part of them. The wards wouldn't inform anyone about a foreign and unknown wizard being present at the place. Recognizing strangers and intruders and making the warders aware of this was something that it was intrinsically present in any blood-based-ward pertaining to and put into place by the Black family. Arcturus and or Pollux Black thy name is paranoia. But once he reached the square itself or better said the place where number 12th Grimmauld Place was situated he went from wariness to astonishment.

This Grimmauld Place was shaped like an irregular isosceles triangle instead of being a simple square. The place was extremely well kept and groomed and seemed to be a very exclusive place with a small handful of very expensive and several stories high townhouses, a medium sized magical garden with a big playground in the middle and with one side closed up by a big building with the most incredible plaque Sirius had seen in his life "Grimmauld preparatory school and Kindergarten". Kids nearby any Black residence were for Padfoot like donkeys and rabbits mating, or Snape and hair care products, something out of the realm of normality and common sense.

As usual there was nothing to be seen between numbers eleven and thirteen but he could feel number twelve being in his usual place. The biggest difference he noticed was that this Grimmauld place was most definitively a purely magical place without any muggle neighbours and spoke of care and money. The Grimmauld Place of his reality only spoke of dark magic and dereliction. But what really boogled the mind was that it seemed to actually be a happy place! For Padfoot Happy place and Grimmauld place were an oxymoron, period.

Padfoot felt totally out of his deep on this one and couldn't avoid being very curious indeed at the same time. He took a look at the playground wich to him looked like an extremely strange place. Actually this playground looked similar to the muggle ones he had seen but it had obviously been improved with magic and built for young magical children.

There were even a couple of big mushroom-shaped playhouses like the ones he had seen in the children books Lily used to read to baby Harry. He and James had really laughed their heads off, when they learnt that muggles believed the garden gnomes to live in such places. Had they never de-gnomed a garden?

Whoever designed the playground knew quite a lot about the muggle world and let's face it, that's not something he could say about any one of the persons imprinted in the existing wards, could this be a different new universe with muggle-loving-Blacks? Impossible! Padfoot would eat his wand without ketchup if that was the case, he even would be ready to kiss Snape with tongue, should that be the case. He really was so sure of his family and his ideas regarding muggles.

Padfoot decided to go into one of the mushrooms and lie on the comfortable window-seat with a view to the to townhouses to wait until someone came out and he could see which kind of strange wizards lived in this strange place. A Voldemort serving Sirius was difficult to believe but not really impossible, he had already seen a couple of those in his traipsing from Veil to Veil. Buta muggle-loving Arcturus Black, or Pollux Black or even better Cassiopea Black were so impossible that maybe this was the end of the trip because Padfoot had definitively lost his mind.

After some time Padfoot saw the door to number thirteen open and a mini-Sirius came out of the house. The kid was obviously a Black and even more obviously five to six years old Sirius Black but he also was dressed with dungarees and trainers 'a Black dressed like a muggle? Thought Padfoot' . That seemed impossible in any universe Sirius could think of.

He was also surprised that this mini-him would came out of number thirteen and not out of the ancestral and most nerve-wrecking house of Black situated at number 12th Grimmauld Place. Don't get him wrong, he was happy for the sprog, after all number thirteen was a very nice place, nicer than number 12th had ever been but it was still something quite different to his own reality.

Mini-Sirius happily went to number eleven and started jumping until he reached the door knob . The door knob, an obviously magical one, recognized him by touch and cause the door to open for him. All that Sirius was able to hear before the door to number eleven closed behind the kid was a very loud and definitively not acceptable within the Black family circles voice calling: "!".

After some time the door to number eleven opened again and out came mini-Sirius together with another small kid of the same age, this second kid was dressed with robes and had turquoise hair. Sirius thought that this second kid seemed kind of familiar but couldn't place his face at this moment in time. The kids came into the hear range of Sirius

" …and aunt Clytemnestra is already home with mum helping with the preparations for the party, grandma Druella came with flowers and great-granny Black and great-grandmother Black are already here. And you will not believe it, it's so wicked, great-granny Black is finishing my birthday cake and GUESS WHAT Teddy I was able to choose the cake and I've chosen a vampire bat formed one, with chocolate and more chocolate and then with strawberry jam in the middle, and mum will charm him to fly a little bit before we eat it and this morning dad and mum came to wake me, me alone, without my brothers, brothers can be such a pest, you are so lucky to be an only child, and dad gave me this wicked ring 'cause I'm the youngest bear of the house of Black"

Sirius hadn't been aware that small kids could talk for such a long time without apparently needing to take a breath. Neither was he aware of any bears within the house of Black, this universe was getting more and more unusual by the minute.

"You're what?"

"The third bear of the house of Black" answered mini-Sirius

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not really sure, but dad told me that great-grandfather Arcturus is the Head of the House"

"Why is he the head of the house, shouldn't he be the roof? Houses do not have heads" –Padfood quietly sniggered at this, the sprogs were funny and the second kid sounded to Sirius quite a lot like Remus-

"Uhm! That's a good question… I don't know why he's the head, but I am sure that I understood that part and great-grandfather is the Head of the House. Besides you know my great-granfather if he says he's the head no one is going to disagree with him. Nobody answers back to great-grandad either"

Well, thought Padfoot, something normal at last. Answering back to Arcturus Black was as healthy as a bout of the black plague. Actually Black kids learned not to disagree with their elders even before they learned how to walk , now that he thought about it.

"Well, that's the only thing which you have said until know which does not sound weird" said turquoise-haired sprog.

"Anyway, great-grandfather Arcturus is the head, great-grandfather Pollux is the actual bear, dad is the second bear and uncle Reg is the third bear and as today is my sixth birthday I've got to be the youngest one and someday when all the bears are gone I'll be the Head of the House of Black"

"Alphard that's real silly, if your uncle Reg is the third you can't be the third bear like you said before, you'll be the fourth, and what do you mean with bear? What do you mean with when they go? Where are they supposed to go, all these bears? And if they are not yet gone where are they right now? I haven't seen a single one in your house and I've been about a zillion times there. The only one who can transform into an animal is your dad as he's a dog, or a grimm but not a bear, maybe you got the wrong animal." The turquoise-haired said.

"I DID NOT! Dad gave me the ring and told me that it's for me, 'cause today it's my sixth birthday and 'cause I'm the youngest bear of the house of black." The Sirius-sprog start sounding kind of angry with his fried.

But at this point of the conversation between both kids Padfoot was even more confused about all this information than before. He couldn't make heads or tails of anything the pint-sized chatterbox had said but the one talking about bears had a Black heir ring on his finger and at least all the people mentioned were Blacks and seemed to be related to pint-sized chatterbox.

A loud bang distracted Padfoot from his mental mutterings. A young Harry (Padfoot was not sure but if the chatterbox was six this Harry seemed be one or two years older) came out of number thirteen together with two blond kids, one looking like a mini-Lucius Malfoy and the other a little bit more plump but still blond, the second kind also looked kind of familiar but, Sirius couldn't place him either. The bang seemed to have been produced by them closing the front door. Sirius wondered once again about the capacity to create loud noises that kids and teenagers seem to have.

Both small kids seemed happy to see the older ones.

"Harry, Harry, Teddy does not believe me, tell him, tell him how I'm the new bear of the house of Black" piped mini-Sirius

Harry, Draco and Neville started laughing at this.

"Alphard you thickie –said Draco- you are the "Heir" of the House of Black not the "Bear" of the House of Black. "

"I am not a thickie, Harry tell him that I'm not"

"Well if the shoe fits" – said Harry winking to the sprog – the interaction between Harry and Alphard was very similar to the one between Padfoot and his younger brother Regulus in their youth. And Padfoot thought that Alphard may look like him but he had all the makings of a pint-sized troublemaker like Regulus used to be.

"Ah! – said Teddy- that means that you are the youngest Black heir, not the youngest Black bear " smart aleck, thought Padfoot.

At this moment a strange sound interrupted the on-going conversation and the weirdness started anew. A car, an expensive, top of the range blue limousine came into the place and parked. A muggle car in magical Black owned Grimmauld Place! The five kids stampeded towards the car shouting at the same time:

"Uncle Marius, uncle Marius, uncle Marius…"

"What did you get me? What did you get me?"

"Will you be taking us to the zoo today? Or later this week?"

"Will you drive us around with the car? "

"Will you give us a drive? Please! Pretty, pretty please!"

Padfoot was rendered speechless at this sight , the driver of the muggle car was a Black, an elderly gentleman extremely well dressed but most definitively wearing muggle clothes. He actually looked like a male version of aunt Cassiopea and Padfoot was sure that this 'uncle Marius' one could only be Marius Black but… he was a squib! And the Black family was well known for disowning squibs! Uncle Marius had been blasted from the tapestry ages ago!

Uncle Marius came out of the car, ruffling the hair of the kids, smiling at them and definitively not understanding a word in all this ruckus they were making. But Padfoot could see that he was used to this and knew these kids very well which for Sirius did not make any sense.

Marius Black was the squib brother from Cassiopea, Pollux and Dorea Black. Cassiopea –thanks Merlin, had never married or procreated- , Pollux was Sirius grandfather on his mothers' side and Dorea was married to Charlus Potter and was Harry's grandmother.

Therefore if things were here like in his own universe, or similar, it would make sense for him to maybe know Harry and Alphard (who was obviously Sirius' oldest son in this reality) but it boggled the mind for Marius to be on good terms with any kid from Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. Even if the kid was as related to Marius through Narcissa as his own would.

Actually know he thought about it Padfoot was sure that his uncle Marius had married Clytemnestra Malfoy the squib sister from Abraxas Malfoy. Nonetheless Padfoot knew that the Malfoys and the Blacks views on squibs were the same and none of them would actually accept any squibs within the family. He really had a hard time believing what he was actually seeing.

Uncle Marius went to the boot of the car, picked up a big present out of it and started walking towards number 13th were Harry, Alphard and the two blond kinds had previously came out of. It was obvious that the present was meant to be for Alphard and would be given to him on his birthday party at some later point in the day.

Whilst Marius and his entourage were heading away from the car and towards number thirteen number twelve came into view and at the same time two plops of apparition could be heard in the place. Pandemonium seeming to start again but the only one surprised seemed to be Padfoot. For the rest this seemed to be quite a usual occurrence.

Out of number twelve came Cassiopea Black who was happily greeted by the kids with a very laut "Goooddd Moooorning Aaauuuunt Casssiiieee" and the plops were made by the apparition of two young men, who as soon as they appeared in the place were jumped over by the kids. Padfoot was getting tired and he was actually only watching the amount of energy the five kinds seem to posses.

One of the young men filled Sirius with a very deep longing , that one was his younger brother, Regulus but this was a Regulus he had never seen before. He looked to be around twenty-five years old and his own brother had never lived to reach them.

The second man looked familiar but he couldn't place him until Draco greeted him with a loud "uncle Rab, uncle Rab" – Rab…, also Rabastan Lestrange, the younger of the Lestrage brothers and a childhood friend from Regulus. He belonged to the same year as Reg and they were together in Slytherin.

Cassiopea Black would have been the perfect poster girl for a spinster dark witch had not been poster girls such a muggle thing and therefore beneath her. There was no one in the wizarding world with such an extensive and deep knowledge of the dark arts and compared with her usual way of dressing even Snape did look like a cheery chap. She approached the kids and Marius and as soon as she saw Alphard she mutated into the perfect picture of a child-eating-hag

"Alphard James Black! How you dare young wizard! What do you thing that you are wearing! – she screeched - You are the youngest heir of the most ancient and honorable House of Black, how do you dare defile your family wearing those, those, those… muggle rags!" She pointed her wand at the pint-sized chatterbox, -Sirius couldn't help but to feel very sorry for the lad whilst remembering other such occurrences from his own younger days- and… vanished all his clothes after sending him an stinging hex to his six years old bottom.

Poor Alphard yelped and stood there in his birthday suit , shocked and quivering quite close to tears.

"But, but, but, aunt Cassie- sobbed the kid- it's my birthday and, and, and I was going to change into robes for the party anyway" – and started crying -

Regulus picked the sprog up, cuddling him and covering him with his outer robe and trying to calm him whilst carrying him home to change into more appropriate, and less dangerous, apparel for a heir of the house of Black.

That no one found this occurrence an unusual one told Sirius all he had to know about the family. After all, he had had an aunt Cassie in his younger days and he had been silly enough to wear muggle clothes on a few occasions. Of course nobody within the family was stupid enough to try to complain about something like this, this was what their elders called a well earned learning experience.

Marius tsk-tsk-ed his elder sister whilst heading towards the house

"Cassie, really, was that necessary? The poor thing did not mean anything by it, he even intended to change into proper robes for the party later on and he's only been six years old for a couple of hours now. You can't expect him to already know all the rules. "

Cassiopea levitated the present Marius had carried to levitate in front of them and answered Marius with a tone which would have put the Lord Chancellor to shame

"Marius, you know that he's the youngest heir and therefore it is of the utmost importance that he learns appropriately how to conduct himself in every situation. And you should give them a better example by wearing proper wizarding robes. After all you are a Black."

"Cassie, I'm also an squib, I haven't had any robes since I was disowned when I was eleven and did not receive a Hogwarts letter."

"Well, you are considered now to be once again a Black and should dress like one and not with those muggle rags! "

"Cassie, this is a most expensive Savile Road tailor-made-suit, only a handful of muggles would be able to afford it!" Marius sounded like someone who had lost this battle several times before and new that he would lose it again several times in the future.

"Muggle Rags!"

Padfoot couldn't hear this exchange any further as the pair disappeared into number thirteen. But he was really curious about such an exchange Marius being disowned was clear, that much was the same as at home but he being or becoming once again a Black… How had this happened? And why? And was Cassiopea actually interacting with his squib brother like any normal sister would? 'or as normal as sister within the Black family interacted anyway' thought Padfoot.

This universe was most unusual.

-End of chapter two-


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything, neither am I making any money off this. I am just writing for my own enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of others. What's really all mine are any mistakes you might find within the text, if you want them you'll have to sue me (**LoL**)

Rabastan and the other four kids followed the older pair into the house keeping enough distance that Cassiopea Black could not hear their sniggering and comfortably chatting with each other.

„Only Alphard would wear muggle clothes when he knows that the complete family is coming to his birthday party" commented Rabastan.

„Well, he was lucky that it was aunt Cassie who saw him, can you imagine what it would have happened if great-grandfather or grand-father saw him like that?" said Harry with the relish older siblings can't really hide when annoying younger siblings get themselves in trouble for a change.

„Oh Merlin! –gasped Neville- They would have ranted for hours!, remember the last family dinner at Beltane? When he saw us playing Jedi with the lightsabers uncle Marius gave us? I was reading etiquette books for ages afterwards..."

A collective shudder went through the kids, Harry and Draco had also been reading the dusty etiquette thomes for ages after that one. Of course the idea of giving up the lightsabers and stopping seeing the Starwars videos on the muggle TV Sirius had in 13th Grimmauld Place did not came into their heads... in was not really a question of not acting ‚muggle' or not, it was more a question of not letting the wrong family members see you doing it. Survival of the fittest was a really Black quality you did not last long in this family if you did not learn to think quickly on your feet.

„Ooohhh! What do you think, that grandmother Druella will do now to aunt Cassie when she learns that aunt Cassie hexed Alphard?" gleefully asked Draco

On this happy note, Rabastan and the kids disappeared into number thirteen Grimmauld Place closing the door and leaving Padfoot alone in his hiding place.

Padfoot really had a lot on his mind after this last exchange and the previous happenings. He felt that he had to recapitulate or he would easily forget part of what had already been said. He couldn't avoid to be extremely curious about this universe and the interactions within this new and different Black family.

On the one hand some things were beyond different with his own universe. On the other hand some things and some family members were exactly what he remembered from his own family and youth.

Aunt Cassiopea and Grandmother Druella Black –nee Rosier- apparently were the same as in his own universe.

Cassiopea Black, had loved his nephew Cygnus with the same passion she had hated his erstwhile wife and nowadays widow Druella Rosier Black. The ‚discussions' between both of them at any family event could put the final duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald to shame.

The family thought that the only reason they still had not killed each other once and for all was that they had too much fun hexing each other within an inch of their lives on a regular basis. Both ladies could have given Voldermort a run for his money and if there was something all the Blacks were really proficient by now, it were strong shield charms. So nothing new here, thought Padfoot.

Two of the kids, weren't Blacks. Teddy reminded him of someone but... he couldn't put his finger on whom. He only knew of a Neville, Frank Longbottom's son, aunt Callidora's grandson. But the Longbottoms and the Blacks were never too close, specially not after that Rodolphus and Bellatrix stunt which put both Frank and Alice in for live, maybe, that had never happened here.

What it was very clear was that the Sirius in this universe was both, married and wealthy. Alphard, the pint-sized-chatterbox was this Sirius eldest son and he had already mentioned both a mum and other siblings, which in his words „were a pest". Well, Padfoot had only three words for him: pot, kettle, black.

With regards to his wealthy remark, one needed only to take a look around at Number thirteen Grimmauld Place to see that this was an expensive townhouse situated in an exclusive neighbourhood.

Alphard obviously knew Harry quite well, so Harry was probably Sirius' godson in this universe as well.

Draco was also easy to place, a Malfoy, and obviously Narcissa's son. But a universe where Blacks, Potters, Malfoys and Longbottoms were on friendly terms was more difficult to place. Weird!

Regulus was alive here and he seemed to be a loved uncle who doted on the kids. He had been the one to take care of poor Alphard after his run into aunt Cassie. Padfoot couldn't avoid to smile a little bit at this one. He could remember a similar occurrence on Regulus fourth birthday party back at home.

He also seemed to be on extremely good terms with his brother. Padfoot was very happy, but couldn't avoid the pain he felt when recalling the strained relationship he had had with his own brother in his own universe.

The kids were definitively happy and outgoing. That was in Padfoot's eye a mayor difference within any Black household he had seen until now. Weird!

Rabastan was another puzzle. He obviously was Regulus best friend, same as in Padfoot's universe. But what in Merlin's name may be the reason for him to be in such friendly terms with Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom? He could see that for the kids he was just another uncle.

From the older generation of Blacks his parents had, thank Merlin for small mercies, not been mentioned at all. He could only hope that they would be dead here as well as they were at home.

Both his grandparents had been mentioned and seemed to be alive and kicking and quite similar to his own. He really hoped that one of the sprogs would ask the old gaffers about great-grandfather Arcturus being the „roof " and not the head of the house of Black.

Well, about the ladies of the House of Black, granny Black baking a cake was a dead giveaway for Granny Melania, nee Melania MacMillan, wife of Arcturus Black and the best cook in all the world.

How a Hufflepuff like Melania had been able to happily live for decades together with Arcturus Black was a mystery for family and acquittances.

Great-grandmother would be grandmother Irma, nee Irma Crabbe, and married to Pollux Black.

The only couple who were a real surprise to him were aunt Marius and aunt Clytemnestra. It was obvious for Padfoot that they were Marius Black, the squib brother from Pollux, Cassiopea and Dorea Black and the squib sister from Abraxas Malfoy. And the idea of two squibs being invited to the family birthday party of the youngest heir together with the rest of the family was absolutely mindblowing.

As mindblowing as the fact that Marius was so sure of his place within the family that he came to Grimmauld Place driving a muggle car and daring to tell off Cassiopea for hexing the sprog. Weird, brave and utterly insane!

Padfoot definitively was going to remain put where he was and try to find out more about this exciting new „Black Family" before going back through he Veil. Afterall he always could rely on his Padfoot form to remain unrecognized.

There was only a small point, mentioned by Teddy, which Padfoot seemed to have failed to notice and which would bring his cunning plan down.

-End of chapter three-


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything, neither am I making any money off this. I am just writing for my own enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of others. What's really all mine are any mistakes you might find within the text, if you want them you'll have to sue me (**LoL**)

-chapter four-

Padfoot spent his time alone resting in his hideaway. He had tried to transform but immediatly noticed that the mushroom-shaped playhouse had been designed for small children and not for an over six foot adult. He kept his doggy-shape and took a long nap.

He was awaken by some house elves popping into the garden side of the playground with comfortable chairs, tables and a tea service. Padfoot was sure that they were preparing the area for the afternoon tea, which most probably would put an end to the celebration.

Once everything was ready the door to 13th Grimmauld Place opened and people started to pour out. The first wave were the kids, but Padfood noticed that the number of kids had slightly increased.

There were four more kids together with Harry and apparently the same age. Draco and Neville were already known to Padfoot, the next one could only be a Crabbe and the next one was a light brown haired lad with a round face who answered to the name of Ernie and who Sirius didn't know from Adam.

The next wave of kids were either younger kids or girls. Alphard, the pint-sized-chatterbox, came out together with a big girl, probably on the same age group as Harry, who he called Millie and a smaller version of the girl he addressed as Pippa.

Teddy came out together with a small and cute blonde girl with long hair he called Astoria. Tugging at their their hands was obviously a younger sibling from Alphard, which everyone address as Archie. The kid was another mini-Sirius and couldn't be more than four years old, if even that old.

The kids were obviously happy to leave the house and the adults behind and stormed the playground with a passion. If they had really spent the whole time with his family he definitively could understand them.

Padfoot was surprised that the kids would be left out on their own, but he saw two house elves discretly keeping an eye on things and remembered the existing wards all over the place. He was sure that no kid would have been able to leave Grimmauld Place without the authorization of one of the Blacks.

A little bit later more people started pouring out off number thirteen. The first four were two young women, a good looking brunette and a blond one, which once again seemed quite familiar to him, together with Regulus and Rabastan. They started walking around the playground chatting and keeping an unintrusive eye on things.

A somewhat bigger built young woman, obviously related to Millie and Pippa, joined them shortly afterwards. Sirius noticed that they kept walking around the garden\playground-area whilst the kids kept playing as far away of the adults as they could get without leaving the enclosed playground.

The next wave were composed of Marius, Sirius and Remus and they headed straight to the parked limousine. Sirius had a notebook on his hands and they were obviously discussing something about the mechanics and extremly interested in the car.

The next wave of people almost gave Padfoot a heart failure. They came out into the place and eyed the parked muggle car with the same kind of sympathy they would use to eye an eviscerated rotting flobberworm who had been lying under the august sun for a couple of weeks. They of course headed towards the comfortable chairs with all the importance of their rank.

They were great-grandfathers Arcturus and Pollux, head of the House of Black and heir of the same, respectively, Callidora Longbottom, nee Black, actual Head of the House of Longbottom and aunt Cassiopea Black.

This group could give the Monster Family a run for his money. Arcturus, Pollux, Cassiopea and Callidora Longbottom –nee Black- were either siblings or close cousins, had been together in Hogwarts before the first muggle world war started and were definitively as flexible as steel and as cheery as a funeral service.

Those four had two hobbies, bickering and contradicting each other and critizising the younger generations which were without doubt an absolute disapoinment. Regretfully one couldn't do without them, as they were actually the future of their own family but... if they could have done without, they would most definitively have liked to give it a try.

They shared the opinion that the world was going to hell with a handbasket and those belonging to the younger generations were all a bunch of spineless flobberworms unable to tie their own shoelaces without detailed instructions from their elders. And lacking the necessary intelligence to recognize this fact and obediently following those instructions.

Padfoot thanked his lucky star that they were sitting far away and he couldn't hear a single word of whatever they were talking about. He had had enough of their rantings in his own youth to last him several lifetimes and universes.

The last group to come out were another surprise for him, aunt Clytemnestra and great-grandmothers Melania and Irma came out together with grandmother Druella and her daughters Narcissa and Andromeda Black. Forget about a squib drinking tea with the Black females, what in Merlin's name was Andromeda doing here? Was she maybe not a Tonks in this universe?

Irma, Druella and Andromeda were happily bickering in typical Black fashion and Narcissa was enjoying the show and only giving her opinion to start a new bickering when the old one seemed to be dying out.

Actually Padfoot thought that the only other female able to get the best of a Black woman in any argument, could only be another Black woman. And as much as he loved Andie he had to recognize that she was Druella's daughter when it came to arguing with her mother and grandmother. Narcissa as the youngest had always had her fun in listening, and of course in reinkling the arguments if necessary.

After taking another look at aunties Cassiopea and Callidora and grandmother Druella he definitively agreed that the female is the deadliest of the species.

Well, he now knew two things, this was not his universe and this was most definitively his family. Thankfully not as poisonous as his own one. But the time had come to return to the ministry and jump into the veil once again.

Padfoot only needed to quietly lie in this playhouse until the family went away. But he had made his plans without counting with the youngest Black present.

Charlus Arcturus Black was a vivaceous four years old with the kind of curiosity which found the cat and got it killed. Archie, as he was known, to the chagrin of great-grandfather Arcturus, was extremely bored at this moment in time.

His older brothers and their friends didn't pay him any attention and did not let him play with them saying that he was too little. And the girls only wanted him around to try to play house with him. That's the reason why as soon as he saw the oportunity and noticed that nobody was paying him any attention, he disappeared to explore the playground.

His first place of exploration was obviously the place where no-one else seemed to be around, the mushroom-shaped playhouses. Anyone can understand his joy when he found his favourite toy in one of them, padfoot!.

„PAAADDDFOOTT! DADY TRANSFORMED FOR ARCHIEEEEEEEEE"

Daddy did not transform much nowadays as it would have been difficult for him to inspire respect as a parent if the kids saw him as Padfoot but now and again he still did it, to the absolute delight of his own kids. Archie loved Padfoot and had several charmed padfoot-shaped plushies.

Archie went to Padfoot laughing and shouting and without a care in the world. The rest of the Black family went to Padfoot with drawn wands and extremely effective hexes. It was a question of seconds until Padfoot found himself, stunned, hexed, bound, silenced, made to transform into a wizard and being floated into number thirteen with a very respectable guard of, let's not forget it folks, dark witches and wizards.

The young brunette with blue eyes was trying to calm Archie and the matrons of the family were protecting the kids with the same zeal an Hungarian Horntail would use to protect her nest. Actually Padfoot thought that right now confronting an Hungarian Horntail would be a much healthier and better idea than confronting them. Not to mention confronting the Sirius and Regulus who were glaring at him. There was no doubt in Padfoot's mind that this Sirius was a true Black. He was getting a bad feeling...

He got an even worse feeling when he heard great-grandfather Pollux gleefully informing the family that he was going to fetch a batch of Veritaserum, and telling Arcturus to take him into the cellar for an interrogation. He would be joining them shortly!

Thankfully for him Sirius, Remus, Regulus and Rabastan had been against Arcturus and Cassiopea's first idea of taking the intruder into the dungeons still in existence in twelve Grimmauld Place for a more throught interrogation.

-End of chapter four-


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything, neither am I making any money off this. I am just writing for my own enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of others. What's really all mine are any mistakes you might find within the text, if you want them you'll have to sue me (**LoL**)

He got an even worse feeling when he heard great-grandfather Pollux gleefully informing the family that he was going to fetch a batch of Veritaserum, and telling Arcturus to take him into the cellar for an interrogation. He would be joining them shortly!

Thankfully for him Sirius, Remus, Regulus and Rabastan had been against Arcturus and Cassiopea's first idea of taking the intruder into the dungeons still in existence in twelve Grimmauld Place for a more throught interrogation.

-end of chapter four-

Padfoot was brought into number thirteen and straight into the cellar. Thankfully nobody seemed interested in knocking him around and he did not even touch the walls once.

He was secured onto a very sturdy chair and immediatly immobilized. He couldn't have moved to save his live, which as he reckoned, may well be the case here and now.

Rabastan and Regulus placed themselves guarding the door, the only scape route. Remus leaned against one of the walls and Sirius stood not far away from him. Cassiopea, Druella and Arcturus were the closer to him. No one said a word , they just remained there waiting for the Veritaserum to arrive and closely observating the intruder. There was no need to waste time with questions before being sure that the prisoner was providing them with the right answer.

Arcturus and Druella were extremely interested in his right hand, and he noticed that they were carefully observating his seal ring, the Black family seal ring, the same one Arcturus was wearing himself as Head of the House.

"My name is Sirius Orion Black, I am the son of Orion Arcturus Black and Walburga Black."

He carefully watched their reactions, Arcturus, Cassiopea and Druella were obviously puzzled, but not showing any reaction. The only thing they were doing was meaningfully look at each other. Sirius and Remus were baffled and also looking at each other, Rabastan and Regulus appeared to be as baffled as them and looking between him and this Sirius.

"You can't be Sirius Orion Black, Sirius is my brother and I would know him anywhere, besides, you are too old to be Sirius"

" Reg, I agree with you that he can't be Sirius but… look at him, really look at his face. You can't say that he doesn't remind you of your older brother and even more of your own father. He's most definitively a Black" said Rabastan.

" Father is dead" said Sirius who was looking at Padfoot and obviously comparing his facial features with his own, Regulus and Arcturus.

Padfoot knew that he really looked a lot like his own father and his grandfather on his father's side, Arcturus Black. He had never been more relieved about anything in his life.

"He smells like you Sirius and he can transform into Padfoot" was the only comment from Remus.

"Of course – commented Cassiopea" the werewolf would recognize his scent.

"Precisely" answered Remus.

Padfoot was quite confused, his family knew that Remus was a werewolf but this did not seem to matter!

"There is no way of reproducing an animagus form. I am the only wizard able to become Padfoot. Other wizards may become a dog animagus, they may even transform into a black dog but they would never be Padfoot" -said Sirius who was obviously the most puzzled of those present- "and he was most definitively Padfoot when we found him".

"Exactly" –answered Cassiopea and Remus almost at the same time-

Pollux came down with a flask. Veritaserum was a truth serum, Padfoot was sure that not many magical households had a ready batch of it. But he also knew that if there was a household where the bloody thing was stocked, you know, for a just in case kind of situation, that was the one in 12th Grimmauld Place, the ancestral home of the House of Black where in this universe either Pollux or Arcturus Black actually resided. One never knew when it may become handy during a family dinner.

"Well, I've poured into him more than the usual dose to make more than sure that he can't avoid telling us the truth. What is your name intruder?"

"Sirius Orion Black"

"When and where were you born?"

"1956 in 12th Grimmauld Place, London"

It was obvious that they didn't know what to do with such an impossible testimony.

"What were you doing today here in Grimmauld Place?" Padfoot had the feeling that they were unsure about what to ask after the first two answers. The impossibility of it all catching up with them.

"I was spying on the family"

Padfoot cringed, this should have been better worded, dratted truth serum. Such an statement in the middle of a bunch of paranoid hex-happy Blacks was definitively the last he would have said without Veritaserum as their thunderous expressions showed.

"How you dare?"

"The impudent whelp!"

"I never heard such a…"

"QUIET – bellowed Sirius, surprising his elders- Why were you spying on my family? " asked Sirius with suppressed anger, he was definitively not going to waste his time in unnecessary rants, he was going for the jugular with this one. It was after all his family this idiot had been spying on, his wife, his children, his nephews. All these who really mattered to him.

" I needed to make sure that this was not my reality, my universe."

" You would have noticed almost at first sight whether this was your universe or not. You appear to be more than a decade older than our Sirius. Why did you keep watching the family? " Remus as usual asked the most difficult questions going directly to the central point of any on-going discussion.

" I was curious. And … I was envious"

"Envious of what precisely?" asked Regulus, it was obvious that at least for Regulus this was a very intriguing situation, more than a dangerous one.

" Of this family. Of this Grimmauld Place. Of the kids being so happy and carefree."

" Well, -said Pollux-, this is all very upsetting and beyond believable but we need to make sure that he is telling the truth"

" You gave already gave me Veritaserum "

" And we will now be drawing your blood to do a Patia Potestatis, -said Cassiopea-. Pollux please go fetch some of the prepared vellum parchment in the library at home. It's still kept on the same place as usual."

"I don't really know what I find more upsetting, that you have Veritaserum on hand, that you have prepared vellum parchment in your library or that you are able to do a Patia Potestatis as if it was an expelliarmus " commented Remus sounding as someone who was actually very used to this kind of thing after having been on close contact with this family for a long time.

" What the hell is a Patria Potestatis? How do you intend to draw my blood? " Padfoot couldn't avoid to be very, very wary of this lot, specially of Cassiopea and Pollux working together-

" That's a very good question "said Regulus whilst Rabastan and Sirius nodded in agreement with him-

" What are they teaching them nowadays in that school? - said Arcturus -the Patia Potestatis will allow us to ascertain your affiliation to a determinate family. Once we drop some of your blood on the prepared vellum parchment and do the enchantment we will be able to see your ancestors for the last three generations. "

" It is a very difficult enchantment and I doubt that more than a handful of wizards would be able to do it out of their heads and without previous consultation of a book–mentioned Remus- on the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the handful were present here today."

Once the blood had been drawn Cassiopea, Druella and Pollux chanted the words together and became…

N.A (to see the Black Family tree which appeared on the parchment you can go to the harry potter lexicon () and search for the black family tree) I tried to upload it here but it' regretfully not possible.

The Patia Potestatis showed exactly what Padfoot knew it would show, the family three from his reality, and if he hadn't been in such a dire situation he would have had a real good time enjoying the utterly astonished faces of his "elders and betters" as grandmother Druella used to say.

Those present in the cellar kept looking at each other, contemplating the family three shown in the parchment and mulling over the whole unbelievable situation.

At last, Sirius pointed his wand towards Padfoot and freed him.

" Well, the chap is a Black, he comes from another universe, or reality or whatever the hell that is, and he happens to be an older version of myself. Peachy, really peachy –Said Sirius dripping irony with each word-. So what about moving this charming conversation to a more comfortable place if possible with something strong to drink. We also need to include my wife in any further conversation, by the by, as well as grandmothers Irma and Melania, if not we may be sleeping on a coach for the next century or so. And let's face it, neither grandfathers' nor grandpa's back are up to it. "

" As much as it pains me to say it, you are right Black –said Rabastan- I need something to drink before I'll be able to wrap my mind around this one. "

They quietly moved upstairs reaching the entry hall and moving into a very comfortable sitting room. Where they found the three ladies of the house. The young brunette was introduced as Alexandra Black, nee Gamp, Sirius' wife and Alphard and Archies mother. The other two were well known to Padfoot being their own great grand mothers Melania and Irma.

" Violetta Bulstrode took the Greengrass girl with her own when she left. I'm happy it was her present and neither of the other mothers', she's a good friend and a very sensible one. Narcissa took Teddy, Alphard and Archie with her to Malfoy Manor until we contact her and tell her to bring them back. She obviously expects a pensieve memory of whatever happens and especially of whatever happened in the cellar. Andromeda went home and will deliver Ernie and Vincent to the Macmillans and Crabbes. I don't need to mention that she will be in touch and expect to be made privy to the same memory as Narcissa. Aunt Callidora and Lucrecia took Harry and Draco with them to spend the night at Longbottom mansion with Neville. " said Alexandra Black who obviously was a most practical kind of person.

" Marius and Clytemnestra drove home, just in case. We can call them at any time if we need them." Mentioned Irma.

Padfoot used the explanation to take a good look at Alexandra Black –nee Gamp- . The Gamp family was an old pureblood one an it was already extinct in his world , therefore this Gamp woman was quite unfamiliar for him. She wasn't too tall or too short, neither was she too thin or too plump, she was definitively curvy in all right places, good-looking andbrunette with intelligent blue eyes and a no-nonsense air about her. She wasn't what her mother would have labeled as "a chocolate-box-beauty" but she was definitively quite attractive in her own way.

" Marius wanted to remain here –said grandmother Irma- but considering that the intruder was obviously a wizard I thought it best if they were safely out of the way. "

He also took a detailed look around. The room was very big and well furnished but also extremely comfortable and obviously it was the sitting room of a family with small kids. He noticed many pictures of Harry, Alphard and Archie all around the place.

There seemed to be some sort of L-shaped sofa in one of the ends of the room facing some kind of black box which he couldn't identify at all but which seemed to be something Lily had explained to him ages ago called "telly" or "kelly" or something of the sort. That was obviously the favorite place of the sprogs as shown by the many toys and brightly colored containers nearby the sofa.

Once again he thought about the oddities of this world where his counterpart was so obviously Black but had no problems about anything muggle. Something that as he had seen during the party, separated him from the rest of the family, especially the older rest of it who seemed to consider anything muggle with the same sympathy he was used to from his own universe.

They were now seated at the other end of the room in more conservative armchairs. Arcturus and Pollux took place in a couple of wing chairs. As soon as they were seated the chairs seemed to have for them a footstool or footrest kind of thingy ready, which came out of the blue, also a mixture of muggle and wizard. Weird!

The rest of them just seated themselves around, Sirius with his wife, Remus in a nearby armchair between Cassiopea and Druella and Regulus and Rabastan together and closer than he would have thought respectable. Hum! That was really a most interesting development, thought Padfoot when he saw Rabastan confortable seat himself on the sofa with an arm around Regulus.

Arcturus as head of the House started explaining everything and the parchment with the Family tree was passed around. It was obvious that this was a development none of them would had thought possible, not even in their wildest dreams.

The questions about the enchantments used, the Veritaserum being up to date and other security questions were typical Black. No one would describe the family as naïve and trusting.

" How are we supposed to call him? –asked grand mother Melania- We can't call both of them Sirius, it would be confusing. "

" We could call him idiot for getting himself thrown in the middle of such a situation. As Head of his House he should have been more careful." said grandfather Arcturus with a show of his usual empathy-

Oh Home sweet home –thought Padfoot-

-End of chapter five -


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything, neither am I making any money off this. I am just writing for my own enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of others. What's really all mine are any mistakes you might find within the text, if you want them you'll have to sue me (**LoL**)

" How are we supposed to call him? – grandmother Melania asked- We can't call both of them Sirius, it would be confusing. "

" We could call him idiot for getting himself thrown in the middle of such a situation. As Head of his House he should have been more careful. ' said grandfather Arcturus with a show of his usual empathy

Oh Home sweet home –thought Padfoot-

-End of chapter five –

" The best would be for us to either call him by his middle name, Orion, or by the usual nickname for Sirius, Padfoot " Remus, as usual, was nothing if not the sensible one.

Both Padfoot and Sirius were against calling himself Orion. Orion Black was the name of Sirius' father and a very sore point for both of them.

" You can call me Padfoot "

" Well Padfoot, maybe you could tell us something about yourself as well as the reason for your presence here. " said Alexandra, ' please call me Alex', Black.

Padfoot knew that this wouldn't be easy but at the same time it was necessary. Therefore he started recounting his life to a bunch of strangers who were extremely familiar to him, the irony of it! .

He started with his younger years at 12th Grimmauld Place, with Regulus and his parents. He noticed that both Regulus and Sirius considered asking something but restrained themselves, letting him go ahead with his tale. About going to Hogwarts, meeting James Potter and being sorted into Griffindor.

The part about him leaving his parent's house and being disowned was the most difficult to recount, he needed to correctly word it without badly ruffling any feathers from those present. In his universe he had actually ran away of those present and all that they stood for. Padfoot didn't want to end at wand point with his elders after so many years.

He went ahead with the first war against Voldemort, " that impudent Parvenue!" snorted Arcturus, the hiding of the Potters, the Fidelius, the change of secret keeper, Cassiopea snorted quite loudly when she heard the reasoning beyond this asinine idea, as she put it.

He then told them about being thrown into Azkaban without a trial, Grandpa Pollux ranted a long time about such a thing, A Black! Thrown into Azkaban without a trial! Unbelievable!

His escape from Azkaban put him again in a very good light to those present. No one had ever escaped Azkaban, but of course if any one would be able to do it, it would be a Black. Of course! –No comments! , thought Padfoot-

When he came to the point of 12th Grimmauld Place having been made the headquarters of the Order and having been put under the Fidelius by Dumbledore himself there were five minutes of an eerie silence before all hell broke loose.

Actually it got so bad that Regulus took him out of the room under the very flimsy subterfuge of Padfoot needing to "freshen up a bit" and gave him a head slap as soon as they were out of the room.

" Do you have a brain at all? Couldn't you have kept that bit for yourself? We will be lucky if they are done with their rant within the next couple of hours. 12th Grimmauld Place under a Fidelius Charm put there by Dumbledore. Oh! We'll be lucky if Grandpa Pollux does not get a coronary over it. Grandfather Arcturus seemed close enough to one, anyway. Of all the brainless, stupid ideas you have had in your life…. "

Padfoot was so happy to be able to interact with Regulus again that he couldn't avoid grinning like a maniac. He now knew that it had been a stupid idea to mention 12th Grimmauld Place, a Fidelius Charm and Dumbledore within the same phrase in front of Pollux Black. After all, it would have been in his own universe.

The Blacks had never been big fans of Dumbledore but Pollux Black despised him with a passion since he was outvoted and Dumbledore became the next Chief Warlock.

There was no one within the wizarding world with a wider and deeper knowledge of wizarding jurisprudence than Pollux Black and he decided that putting all his knowledge into opposing whatever change of the existing law Dumbledore was proposing or voting in favor of, was going to be his ultimate ambition from that day onwards.

The insults traded onwards an forwards by those two were as memorable as were the sessions when they went head to head like a pair of mating bulls, a pair of very thickheaded, stubborn bulls.

Idle tongues went so far as to say, that if Dumbledore really wanted the old families to vote for more rights for muggleborns he should try to pass a lay against them in the Wizengamot. He could be sure that Pollux Black would vote in favor of it just to spite Dumbledore.

And now this same Dumbledore, or another one similar, Dumbledores being all the same annoying pests in all the existing universes in Pollux Black's mind, was the secret keeper of the ancestral home of the House of Black.

Dumbledore was the secret keeper of 12th Grimmauld Place! . The world was coming to an end! , if this was not a sign of the oncoming Armageddon Pollux Black didn't know what it would be.

The younger generation of Blacks seemed to be used to this and took it as something annoying but nothing unusual. They just busied themselves drinking coffee, or in some cases drinking something a little bit more fortifying, and munching on sandwiches. Trying to stop the rant at this point was as pointless as trying to stop a stampede of buffaloes with calming words, both pointless and utterly idiotic bordering on insane.

When the rant came to an end, Padfoot carried on with the story. There wasn't that much left really. He explained how Bellatrix had been the one responsible for him falling through the Veil. The silence was deafening. A Black going against another Black, a Black being responsible for the death (no one knew that Sirius would survive the veil) of the Head of the Family – and as grandmother Melania put it- all for following an impudent half blood without a proper family name.

" Is she talking about me and Harry? " Padfoot quietly asked.

" No you dolt –said Remus- she's talking about Bellatrix and Voldemort ".

Padfoot couldn't believe his own ears on this one. Was Remus being sarcastic? He did not sound like he was but… one never knew with Moony.

" Padfoot why are you not eating anything? – grandma Irma asked putting a plate of sandwiches on his hand – you definitively look like needing to put some meat on those bones. I've never seen our Sirius looking so unhealthy. "

" Well, you have never seen me after spending twelve years in Azkaban " mentioned Sirius.

" That's a very good idea, we could use the time while he eats to maybe tell him about the obvious differences between both universes –said Alex – You should be the one to start with this Sirius. I know that there are quite a number of things you do not wish to talk about but he deserves to know. "

Sirius was most obviously not pleased about it but Padfoot was he, a he with less luck than he had had during all his life so he started with his tale.

" The first difference seems to be that you grew up with mother and father. Did you live alone with them and Regulus in 12th Grimmauld Place? "

" Well, yes, -said Padfoot quite confused- with whom else should I have been living at the time? "

" Aunt Cassie " Regulus pipped in

" You see, after mother almost smothered Regulus on his crib as a baby, good knows why, grandfather Arcturus decided that having aunt Cassie living with us would deter mother of any other such occurrence. " said Sirius sounding very tired

" Yes –went on Cassiopea- we all were aware that Walburga was quite unhinged, regretfully and as you probably know, being a Black, insanity runs in the family. "

Runs? - Sirius thought- it's more like it gallops

" Wally – Irma carried on the tale – was always a most difficult child with a propensity to tantrums. We actually thought that marrying her to Orion would be such a good idea. After all, Orion was a most phlegmatic child, you see. They would be able to compensate each other. "

" Orion was not phlegmatic, he was bloody lethargic –grunted grandfather Arcturus- but we did not have any better idea at the time. It was not as any of those two had showed any kind of interest in the opposite sex or in anything else anyway. "

" Well –continued Cassie- Orion and Walburga being our problem, we decided that someone should keep an eye on them for the time being. Specially, as the children did seem to be, thanks Merlin, quite on the normal side. That's why neither Sirius nor Regulus used to live alone in 12th Grimmauld Place with their parents, if I had to travel on business, either Irma and Pollux or Arcturus and Melania would come for a visit for the duration of my trip. Or they would go visit with Cygnus and Druella. "

Padfoot could start to see the main difference with his own universe. The Black family had recognized Walburga Black's insanity and had done something against it. Padfoot couldn't avoid feeling very envious about this, he and Regulus felt quite abandoned to their crazy mother's whims in his own universe.

This also explained why this Sirius did not seem to hate his own family. After all it was thanks to them that he didn't have to be afraid of his own mother.

" Another difference seems to be that you did not met James until you went to Hogwarts. Actually I don't think that you got to met many kids your age when you were young from what you have told us " said Regulus

" That's right –said Padfoot with a heavy heart- we weren't allowed. There weren't much kinds which would have been considered as suitable playmates for the heir and spare of the most ancient and honorable house of Black"

" Nonsense! – Cassiopea affirmed- children, specially young ones, need to mingle with other children to grow up and develop a social sense. Of course, parents are there to make sure that they are the right kind of children. It wouldn't do for a black having to mix with any riffraff. We were lucky that in our case, the children from Dorea and Callidora were quite acceptable playmates for Sirius and Regulus and of a similar age. Lucretia's children were not quite of the same social standing but we let Sirius and Regulus to kept contact with them now and again. "

Padfoot noticed that neither Dorea nor Callidora or Lucretia had been mentioned with their new family names. It was quite well known within the family that a Black female tended to consider herself a Black disregarding what the rest of the world, including husbands, thought about it.

But the most important thing about this information was that both Sirius and Regulus had grown up in contact with other magical children and their families. Specially James Potter, Dorea's son, and Frank and Lucretia Longbottom, Callidora's children. They even had been offered the possibility of mingling with Lucretia Prewett's (nee Black) children, Fabian, Gideon and Molly now and again.

" My girls –said Druella- were older and therefore not appropriate playmates for the two of them. They were more like older sisters to them. But we all took care that everything remained under control within 12th Grimmauld Place. "

" Specially –continued Arcturus with a deep-drawn sigh- after Sirius had to go and get himself sorted into Gryffindor. "

" The first Black ever to be sorted in Gryffindor " from Pollux's intonation you would have thought that Sirius was responsible for the last black plague, the disappearance of the roman empire and the sinking of the Titanic all at once. It was obvious that Pollux considered Sirius' sorting into Gryffindor a personal offense to the House of Black.

" Sirius was a most trying child " said Irma

" Yes – agreed Melania- he was a delightful happy go lucky sort of child but most difficult and trying when he set his mind into something. Specially if it was something which he was not supposed to be doing or which wasn't allowed."

" Well –cheekily said Sirius- grandfather, grandmother, grandpa, granny, what can I say, I aim to please! "

" You aim too pleased, in my opinion " said Regulus

Pollux just bended over and head slapped both of them.

" Anyway –surprisingly Remus was the one continuing the tale- things went wrong on our fifth year at Hogwarts. I came to 12th Grimmauld Place to spend the holidays with Sirius.

We Lupins weren't on the same social sphere as the Blacks but still pureblooded and therefore and to a lesser level acceptable to mingle with them. –Padfoot almost snickered, it was so much like Remus to take the mickey of the old gaffers without that they noticed- Sirius and Regulus were most trying the whole time, more than usually so. They seemed to be unable to stop bickering with each other for more than two seconds. We were alone with their mother, when Sirius, the brainless twit, mentioned during dinner that Regulus had a boyfriend, Rabastan Lestrange, Walburga went berserk and threw an Avada Kedavra at Regulus. "

" I didn't think that she would believe me –said Sirius sounding all of fifteen years old again- I was just being an idiot. Reg was mummy's boy and I was sure she would think that I was fibbing and not believe a word –Sirius sounded close to tears- Regulus had been getting on my nerves during the whole holiday because I had been allowed to have Remus visiting and Rabastan hadn't been allowed. I only wanted… I don't even know what I wanted. "

" Kreacher threw itself in front of the hex and took it on my place –said Regulus- it was a miracle that I survived. –Rabastan comforted him- Thankfully Remus as a werewolf had enough strength to subdue mother before she tried again. "

So that's the reason why the family was made aware of Remus condition but did not care about it. He had saved the lives of two family members and this had only been possible because he was a werewolf with unusual strength. -Though Padfoot-

" Kreacher was the only casualty – said Remus- but I am quite sure that had I not been able to subdue the woman, there would have been more. "

" I am afraid that it was all my fault –said Cassiopea sounding very, very old and tired- I had been visiting a wonderful conference in Durmstrang, where Wasily Krum and Igor Poliakoff had the most exciting presentation about genetics applied to the diminishing wizarding population and about inbreeding within the pureblood community. I was so interested and intrinsically upset by their findings that I contacted them after the conference for more information and didn't return home on the date I was supposed to. Arcturus and Pollux were busy with some important voting in the Wizengamot and Cygnus and Orion were away on an important business trip. "

" Nonsense – affirmed Druella- I could have taken a look at things, but I was busy with the preparations for Bella's coming of age ball and didn't either. So no one was really to blame for it."

" That's right –said granny Irma- we all should have kept an eye on things at 12th Grimmauld Place but after so many peaceful years we just became loose with the security and forgot our obligations. "

" It's not really your fault –said Sirius- I was a dolt and didn't think about the consequences. "

" Exactly –said Arcturus- as usual, you didn't think Sirius. "

" Well, -said Pollux- it definitively was the last time he acted so recklessly without thinking first. So it was all for a good cause. "

- End of chapter six-


End file.
